KR102044255B1 - Vehicle charging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle charging device is disclosed. Vehicle charging apparatus according to an embodiment, the main body; A charging unit including a manipulator operated by a user and a charging plug provided at one side of the manipulator and connected to a charging port of the vehicle; A cable electrically connecting the main body and the charging unit; A link unit provided between the main body and the charging unit to adjust a relative position between the main body and the charging unit; And a controller for detecting an operation intention of the user by sensing an external force applied to the manipulator and driving the link unit according to the determined operation intention to move the charging unit.

Description

Vehicle Charging Device {VEHICLE CHARGING APPARATUS}

The following description relates to a vehicle charging device.

Due to the problem of environmental pollution and the development of electronic technology, interest in electric vehicles is increasing all over the world. In order to commercialize an electric vehicle, it is necessary to build an infrastructure such as a charging station for charging an electric vehicle like a conventional gas station.

There are two types of electric vehicle charging methods, wired charging and wireless charging. In the case of the wired charging method, the user must insert the charging plug of the charging device into the charging port of the vehicle, and there may be a part in which user convenience is inferior due to the high load of the charging device and the cable including the charging plug.

In order to overcome this problem, a technology for automatically inserting a charging plug into a charging port of a vehicle without a user's operation has been developed, which requires much cost for commercialization.

Therefore, while the user directly inserts the charging plug into the charging port, there is a need for a technology that can provide convenience to the user in the process.

United States Patent Publication US 8,169,186

An embodiment described herein is to provide a vehicle charging device that provides a convenience to a user by moving a charging unit electrically connected to a vehicle along a path corresponding to a user's operation intention.

Vehicle charging apparatus according to an embodiment, the main body; A charging unit including a manipulator operated by a user and a charging plug provided at one side of the manipulator and connected to a charging port of the vehicle; A cable electrically connecting the main body and the charging unit; A link unit provided between the main body and the charging unit to adjust a relative position between the main body and the charging unit; And a controller for detecting an operation intention of the user by sensing an external force applied to the manipulator and driving the link unit according to the determined operation intention to move the charging unit.

In addition, the elevating guide is connected to the main body, extending up and down; And a lifting member moving upward and downward along the lifting guide and connected to one end of the main body side of the link unit.

The charging unit may further include a support connected to one end of the link unit side of the link unit and supporting the manipulator, and the manipulator and the support may be relatively movable in a three-axis direction within a predetermined range.

The control unit may move the support in a direction in which the relative displacement is removed by driving the link unit when a relative displacement occurs between the manipulator and the support by an external force applied by the user to the manipulator.

In addition, the manipulator is spaced upwardly from the support, provided on the support, the movement unit relative to the support in the front and rear and left and right directions; A first elastic member connecting the front end of the mobile unit to the support; A second elastic member connecting the rear end of the mobile unit to the support; A third elastic member connecting the left end of the mobile unit to the support; A fourth elastic member connecting the right end of the mobile unit to the support; And a fifth elastic member connecting the upper end of the mobile unit to the manipulator.

The link unit may include a first link member whose one end is rotatably connected to the main body; A second link member having one end rotatably connected to the charging unit and another end rotatably connected to the other end of the first link member; A first driving device provided between the main body and the first link member to rotate the first link member vertically and horizontally; A second driving device provided between the first link member and the second link member to rotate the first link member and the second link member relatively up, down, left, and right; And a third driving device provided between the charging unit and the second link member to rotate the second link member vertically and horizontally.

In addition, the control unit, when viewed from the side of the link portion, the amount of change in the first angle between the first link member and the horizontal plane, the first virtual line and the second link member along the extending direction of the first link member The first, second and third driving devices are driven such that the sum of the change in the second angle between the second angle and the change in the third angle between the second imaginary line and the charging plug along the extension direction of the second link member becomes zero. The charging unit may be maintained in a horizontal state.

According to the embodiment described herein, the charging unit electrically connected to the vehicle may be provided along the path corresponding to the user's operation intention to provide a vehicle charging device that provides convenience to the user.

1 is a view schematically showing a vehicle charging device according to an embodiment viewed from the side.
2 is a view showing the inside of the support in the vehicle charging device of FIG.
3 is a view for explaining the operation of the vehicle charging device of FIG.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related known configuration or known function may obscure the gist of the embodiment, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates the singular. And when a particular part is said to "include" a particular configuration, this means that unless specifically stated otherwise said particular portion may further include said other configuration, not to exclude other configurations than said specific configuration.

1 is a view schematically illustrating a state in which the vehicle charging device 100 is viewed from a side according to an embodiment. The vehicle charging apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment may include a main body 110, a lifting guide 120, a lifting member 130, a link unit 140, a charging unit 150, a supporter 160, and the like. .

The main body 110 may generate or store electric energy to be charged in the vehicle 10, and the electric energy of the main body 110 may be supplied to the vehicle 10 through a cable (not shown) and the charging plug 152. Can be. Since the body 110 itself is the same as the known art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The lifting guide 120 may be provided at the front side of the main body 110. The lifting guide 120 may be connected to the main body 110 through, for example, the connecting member 115. The lifting guide 120 may extend vertically as shown, and the lifting member 130 may move up and down along the lifting guide 120.

For reference, the drawing reference x-axis direction will be described as a front-rear direction, a y-axis direction as a left-right direction, and a z-axis direction as a vertical direction. In more detail, the + x-axis direction is described as forward, the -x-axis direction as the rear, the + y-axis direction as the left direction, the -y-axis direction as the right direction, the + z-axis direction as the upper side, and the -z-axis direction as the downward direction. do.

For example, the above-described lifting member 130 may move up and down in a sliding manner on the outer circumferential surface of the lifting guide 120. Driving force for the vertical movement of the elevating member 130 may be provided by a known power unit. The elevating member 130 may be connected to one end of the main body 110 side of the link unit 140, and the link unit 140 may also be elevated according to the elevating and descending of the elevating member 130. In addition, the charging unit 150 may also move up and down as the link unit 140 moves up and down. In other words, the vertical movement of the elevating member 130 on the elevating guide 120 may affect the height of the charging unit 150, and ultimately, the charging plug 152.

The charging unit 150 may include a charging plug 152. The charging plug 152 may be inserted into the charging port 20 of the vehicle 10, and in this state, electrical energy of the main body 110 may be supplied to the vehicle 10 through the cable and the charging plug 152. have. To this end, the charging plug 152 may be electrically connected to the cable. In addition, in the present embodiment, the charging plug 152 is illustrated as being provided on the front side of the manipulator 151 which will be described later.

The charging unit 150 may include a manipulator 151, where the manipulator 151 may be understood as a configuration other than the charging plug 152 in the charging unit 150, and operated by a user in the charging unit 150. It may be understood that the configuration. The user may apply the external force to the manipulator 151 to move the charging plug 152 toward the charging port 20 of the vehicle 10. Although not shown, a handle gripped by the user may be provided at one side of the manipulator 151 for user convenience. Alternatively, the manipulator 151 itself may have a form that is easy for a user to grip.

The support 160 may be connected to the charging unit 150 to support the charging unit 150. In the present embodiment, the support 160 is positioned below the charging unit 150 to exemplarily support the charging unit 150 upward. In addition, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 2, the charging unit 150 and the support 160 may be relatively moved in the three axis direction. For example, when a user applies an external force to the manipulator 151, the charging unit 150 may move relative to the support 160 by the external force, and a relative displacement may occur between the charging unit 160 and the support 160. Can be.

The link unit 140 may be driven by a controller (not shown) to adjust the positions of the charging unit 150 and the support 160, and ultimately, the charging plug 152. In the present embodiment, the link unit 140 may include a first link member 141 and a second link member 142. One end of the first link member 141 may be connected to the elevating member 130 described above, and the other end may be connected to the second link member 142. One end and the other end of the second link member 142 may be connected to the other end of the support 160 and the first link member 141, respectively. The first driving device 145 is disposed between the first link member 141 and the elevating member 130, and the second driving device 146 is disposed between the first link member 141 and the second link member 142. In addition, a third driving device 147 may be provided between the second link member 142 and the support 160 to rotate the first link member 141 and the second link member 142. For example, the first link member 141 may rotate up and down and left and right on the basis of the connection point with the elevating member 130, and rotate up, down, left and right based on the connection point with the second link member 142. can do. The second link member 142 may rotate up and down and left and right based on the connection point with the first link member 141, and may rotate up and down and left and right based on the connection point with the support 160. And the link unit 140 may be raised or lowered as a whole according to the movement of the elevating member (130). Meanwhile, the aforementioned first, second and third driving devices 145, 146, and 147 may be servo motors or step motors.

The controller may drive the elevating member 130 and the first, second, and third driving devices 145, 146, and 147 to adjust the positions of the charging unit 150 and ultimately the charging plug 152. As will be described later, the control unit grasps the user's operation intention through the external force applied to the manipulator 151 and the lifting member 130, the first to move the charging plug 152 in a path corresponding to the operation intention , 2 and 3 drives 145, 146, 147 can be driven. The control unit may be a well-known electrical configuration including a processor, a circuit, a power supply, a memory, and the like, and may be embedded in the main body 110, for example.

2 is a view showing the inside of the support 160 in the vehicle charging device 100 of FIG. Referring to Figure 2 will be described the operation of the control unit in accordance with the relative movement of the charging unit 150 and the support 160, and the user's operation intention.

As described above, the charging unit 150 and the support 160 may move relative to each other in the three axis direction within a predetermined range. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the support 160 may be open at an upper portion thereof, and a mobile unit 170 may be provided therein, which may move back, forth, and left and right with respect to the support 160. The moving unit 170 may be elastically connected to the manipulator 151 on the upper side thereof, and may be elastically supported on a horizontal surface with respect to the support 160.

More specifically, the first elastic member 181 may connect the front end and the support 160 of the mobile unit 170, the second elastic member 182 is the rear end and the support 160 of the mobile unit 170 ), The third elastic member 183 may connect the left end and the support 160 of the mobile unit 170, the fourth elastic member 184 is the right end and the support of the mobile unit 170 160 may be connected. The first elastic member 181 and the second elastic member 182 may provide elastic force in the front and rear direction, and the third elastic member 183 and the fourth elastic member 184 may provide elastic force in the left and right directions. have. The manipulator 151 may be connected to the mobile unit 170 by a fifth elastic member 185 that provides an elastic force in the vertical direction. The elastic members 181, 182, 183, 184, and 185 may be extended and compressed by the guide rod 190.

When the user applies an external force to the manipulator 151 to approach the charging port 152 to the charging port 20 of the vehicle 10, the manipulator 151 and the support 160 are at least one axis by the above-described configurations. For example, it can move relative to as many as three axes (the occurrence of relative displacement). According to a specific aspect of the external force, the moving unit 170 connected to the manipulator 151 can move relative to the support 160 on a horizontal plane, wherein the first elastic member 181 and the second elastic member 182 The first elastic member 183 and the fourth elastic member 184 may be deformed in the horizontal direction. If the force component in the vertical direction is included in the external force, the fifth elastic member 185 may be deformed in the vertical direction.

The controller may grasp the displacement in the three-axis direction with respect to the support 160 of the manipulator 151 using a known means such as a distance measuring sensor. And the control unit grasps the relative displacement of the manipulator 151 and the support 160 with the user's operation intention, and the charging plug 152 determines the operation intention, that is, the movement path of the charging plug 152 intended by the user. The lifting member 130 and the driving devices 145, 146, 147 may be driven to move along. More specifically, the control unit is the lifting member 130, the drive unit (145, 146, 147) to move in the direction in which the relative displacement is removed, that is, in the direction of following the manipulator 151 to which the support 160 is moved. Can be controlled. And by continuing the operation as described above, even if the external force is changed, the controller can generate the movement path of the support 160 to match the movement of the support 160.

As such, the external force applied to the manipulator 151 for the first time and the relative displacement of the manipulator 151 and the supporter 160 generated by the external force are determined by the user's operation intention (movement path of the charging plug 152 desired by the user). And the support unit 160 drives the link unit 140 and the elevating member 130 to follow the manipulator 151, thereby allowing the user to use the lesser force to charge the charging plug 152 of the vehicle 10. It can be moved toward the charging port (20).

3 is a view for explaining the operation of the vehicle charging device 100 of FIG. Referring to Figure 3 will be described the process of the control unit to generate the movement path of the charging plug 152. For reference, it is assumed herein that the link unit 140 and the charging unit 150 do not move in the y-axis direction for convenience of description. The mobility in the y-axis direction may be the same as described below.

은 제 1 링크부재(141) 양단의 회동지점 사이의 거리일 수 있고,

는 제 2 링크부재(142) 양단의 회동지점 사이의 거리일 수 있고,

은 제 3 구동장치(147)와 충전플러그(152) 사이의 거리일 수 있다.

은 제 1 각도로서 제 1 링크부재(141)와 수평면(P1) 사이의 각도일 수 있고,

은 제 2 각도로서 제 1 링크부재(141)의 연장방향을 따른 제 1 가상선(P2)과 제 2 링크부재(142) 사이의 각도일 수 있고,

은 제 3 각도로서 제 2 링크부재(142)의 연장방향을 따른 제 2 가상선(P3)과 충전플러그(152) 사이의 각도일 수 있다. 지지대(160)와 충전플러그(152)는 모두 x축 방향으로 연장되는바 도 3에서는 편의상 제 3 각도(

)를 지지대(160) 기준으로 도시하였다.

는 충전플러그(152)의 x축 방향 좌표(제 1 구동장치(145)를 기준점으로 예시함),

는 충전플러그(152)의 y축 방향 좌표,

는 승강부재(130)의 y축 방향 좌표일 수 있다.In Figure 3,

May be the distance between the pivot points at both ends of the first link member 141,

May be a distance between rotation points of both ends of the second link member 142,

May be a distance between the third driving device 147 and the charging plug 152.

May be an angle between the first link member 141 and the horizontal plane P1 as the first angle,

May be an angle between the first virtual line P2 and the second link member 142 along the extension direction of the first link member 141 as a second angle,

May be an angle between the second virtual line P3 and the charging plug 152 along the extension direction of the second link member 142 as a third angle. Both the support 160 and the charging plug 152 extend in the x-axis direction.

) Is shown with respect to the support (160).

X-axis coordinates of the charging plug 152 (exemplary as the reference point of the first drive unit 145),

Is the y-axis coordinate of the charging plug 152,

May be y-axis coordinates of the elevating member 130.

Here, the position (coordinate) on the x-z plane of the charging plug 152 may be expressed as Equation 1 and Equation 2 below.

,

,

,

를 이용하여

,

를 Jacobian의 형태로 표현하면 아래의 수학식 3과 같이 나타낼 수 있다.Controllable variables

,

,

,

Using

,

In the form of Jacobian can be expressed as Equation 3 below.

를 곱하면 아래 수학식 4와 같이 변화량에 대한 수식으로 정리할 수 있다.On both sides of Equation 3 above

By multiplying by the following equation, the change amount can be summed up as the equation.

와

는 사용자에 의해 가해진 외력에 의한 조작기(151)를 비롯한 충전부(150)와 지지대(160) 간의 상대적 변위를 나타낼 수 있다. 따라서 제어부는 지지대(160)를

와

만큼 이동시켜야 하고, 지지대(160)를

와

만큼 이동시키기 위한

,

,

,

을 결정할 수 있다.

,

,

,

는 아래의 수학식 5와 같이 구할 수 있다.here,

Wow

Denotes the relative displacement between the charging unit 150 and the support 160, including the manipulator 151 by an external force applied by the user. Therefore, the control unit supports the support 160

Wow

Should be moved as much as possible, and the support (160)

Wow

To move by

,

,

,

Can be determined.

,

,

,

Can be obtained as shown in Equation 5 below.

,

,

는 각각 현재의 제 1 각도, 제 2 각도 및 제 3 각도를 나타내고,

는 현재의 승강부재(130)의 높이를 나타낸다. 이들 값들과 거리 측정 센서 등을 이용해 파악한

와

를 토대로

,

,

,

값을 구할 수 있다. 제어부는 상기 변화량들을 구현하기 위해 승강부재(130), 제 1 구동장치(145), 제 2 구동장치(146) 및 제 3 구동장치(147)를 구동시킬 수 있다.here,

,

,

Respectively represent a current first angle, a second angle and a third angle,

Denotes the height of the current elevating member 130. Using these values and distance sensors

Wow

Based on

,

,

,

You can get the value. The controller may drive the elevating member 130, the first driving device 145, the second driving device 146, and the third driving device 147 to implement the changes.

), 제 2 각도(

) 및 제 3 각도(

)의 합은 0일 필요가 있다. 이러한 조건을 적용하면 수학식 5는 아래의 수학식 6과 같이 간략화될 수 있다.Meanwhile, in order to smoothly insert the charging plug 152 into the charging port 20 and to supply power smoothly in the inserted state, the charging unit 150 including the charging plug 152 needs to maintain a horizontal state. So the first angle (

), The second angle (

) And the third angle (

) Must be zero. Applying these conditions, Equation 5 may be simplified as shown in Equation 6 below.

)의 변화량, 제 2 각도(

)의 변화량 및 제 3 각도(

)의 변화량의 합은 0일 수 있다. 어느 하나의 두 개의 각도가 결정되면, 나머지 하나의 각도는 종속적으로 정해질 수 있다.When the above condition is expressed with respect to the amount of change, the first angle (

), The second angle (

) And the third angle (

The sum of the amount of change of) may be zero. When either two angles are determined, the other angle may be determined dependently.

The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of some examples of the present technical idea, and the scope of the present technical idea is not limited to the described embodiments, within the scope of the present technical idea by those skilled in the art. There may be various changes, modifications or substitutions of. For example, the components or features described in each claim may be implemented in a distributed manner or in combination with one another. And all such implementations should be seen as belonging to the scope of the present invention.

100: vehicle charging device 110: main body
120: lifting guide 130: lifting member
140: link portion 141: first link member
142: second link member 145: first drive device
146: second drive unit 147: third drive unit
150: charging unit 151: manipulator
152: charging plug 160: support
170: mobile unit 181: first elastic member
182: second elastic member 183: third elastic member
184: fourth elastic member 185: fifth elastic member
190: guide rod

Claims (7)

main body;
A manipulator operated by a user, a support for supporting the manipulator, and a charging plug provided on one side of the manipulator and connected to a charging port of the vehicle, wherein the manipulator and the support are relatively in three axial directions within a predetermined range; A charging unit configured to be movable;
A cable electrically connecting the main body and the charging unit;
A link unit provided between the main body and the charging unit, the link unit including a plurality of drive members and both ends connected to the driving member to adjust a relative position between the main body and the charging unit while rotating up and down and left and right;
The relative displacement generated between the manipulator and the support by the external force applied to the manipulator is grasped by the user's operation intention, and the link unit is driven in a direction in which the relative displacement is removed according to the determined operation intention. A control unit for moving the charging unit;
A lifting guide connected to the main body and extending vertically; And
A lifting member moving up and down along the lifting guide and connected to one end of the main body side of the link unit;
The manipulator is spaced upwardly from the support,
A mobile unit provided on the support and moving relative to the support in the front, rear, left, and right directions;
A first elastic member connecting the front end of the mobile unit to the support;
A second elastic member connecting the rear end of the mobile unit to the support;
A third elastic member connecting the left end of the mobile unit to the support;
A fourth elastic member connecting the right end of the mobile unit to the support; And
And a fifth elastic member connecting the upper end of the mobile unit to the manipulator. delete delete delete delete The method of claim 1,
The link unit,
A first link member whose one end is rotatably connected to the main body;
A second link member having one end rotatably connected to the charging unit and another end rotatably connected to the other end of the first link member;
A first driving device provided between the main body and the first link member to rotate the first link member vertically and horizontally;
A second driving device provided between the first link member and the second link member to rotate the first link member and the second link member relatively up, down, left, and right; And
And a third driving device provided between the charging unit and the second link member to rotate the second link member vertically and horizontally. The method of claim 6,
When the said control part looked at the said link part from the side,
The amount of change in the first angle between the first link member and the horizontal plane, the amount of change in the second angle between the first imaginary line and the second link member in the extending direction of the first link member, and the amount of change in the second link member. And driving the first, second and third driving devices such that the sum of the amount of change in the third angle between the second virtual line and the charging plug along the extension direction is zero so that the charging unit maintains the horizontal state.

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